


When all is said and done

by Peripearl



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Apple struggles with loss of control, Conversations, Darling's in denial, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23453644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peripearl/pseuds/Peripearl
Summary: After the events of the Dragon games, Apple needs a reality check and a way to figure out the rest of her life. What happens when all the plans seem blown to pieces?
Relationships: Darling Charming/Apple White
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What does one do when confined at home? How about write some fanfiction? I liked the Ever After High universe when I was younger, and have gone back to it more often than I'd care to admit, but the Dragon Game story line hadn't particularly resonated with me until much more recently. So here it is. 
> 
> Some disclaimers:
> 
> 1- As good a mastery over the english language I think I have, it is not my native tongue and I am not immune to attention mistakes or typos, if you spot any, feel free to mention them to me and I will correct them as soon as I can.
> 
> 2- I've always found it particularly hard to identify a character's personality and, in the same way, it's hard to evaluate accurately the reaction a character should have in a particular situation. I try to draw from what I know as much as possible, but all characters in this story could be found guilty of being out of character (but seriously, I really don't know if they are or not)
> 
> 3- Darling is going to appear in this story, she just didn't quite fit in this chapter. 
> 
> The well incident I'm referring to actually comes from Shannon Hale's book "The Storybook of Legend". It's good, I would recommend it if you haven't read it already. On to the story!

Destiny could be such a twisted thing at times. It had always seemed so simple : you followed the same path your parents did, you got your happily ever after, and all was for the best. Princesses were kidnapped, and rescued by strong, courageous princes who would sweep them of their feet, and all was for the best. No one stepped out of line, the cycle stayed intact. and all was for the best, 

Except, very few things who seemed easy actually were, and destiny couldn’t be the exception. As clear as a path may have seemed, it refused to account for what real life threw in the way. And life was rarely a fairy tale, even when it was supposed to be. 

The first thing Apple remembered feeling when she opened her eyes was relief. Her friends had managed to found Daring, and he’d woken her up. Now, They could live happily ever after, and she could leave all her doubts behind. The relief quickly turned to confusion, however, when she was met with a cascade of platinum locks instead of the well-groomed short golden hair. And it wasn’t until she looked at her stunned friends around her that it dawned on her: Daring hadn’t woken her up. Daring wasn’t her true happily ever after. And in a single second, Apple felt her whole world crashing down around her. 

She looked around again, before looking back at Darling, who was smiling sadly at her. She knew, too. Darling knew just how much she’d stirred both of their lives from their previous path. 

And now that it was all over, and that Apple was sitting on a balcony, finally breathing after all the craziness of the past few days, Apple mostly felt lost. For the first time in her life, She didn’t know what the next step was. No one had felt comfortable commenting, but that wasn’t going to last. Ever After High was far too prone to gossip, and this was way too big a news. And in that moment, her life would be over. 

Apple took a deep breath, and went back inside. It was so tempting to just run away from all of this. To convince her mom to let her change school, forget this all happened and start over. Or go back to that enchanted sleep. Enchanted sleep wasn’t so bad after all. At least in there, she didn’t have to face the disappointment of her friends. Or even worse, the disappointment of her mother. 

They’d never talked about it, of course. But it was such a taboo around her that Apple couldn’t imagine her mother feeling anything but disappointed when she’d learn the news. They had put so much effort in matching her with Daring. The two of them had been introduced when they were too young to even remember it. At every royal function Apple had attended, she’d be sat down next to him and they’d been expected to entertain each other, as any two children who were destined to spend forever after together would be. Making small talk with Daring was always relatively easy, almost anything could get him to talk about himself for hours on end, and while it wasn’t the most interesting conversations Apple had participated in, it made her parents so happy to see them “get along”, so it was worth it in Apple’s eyes. She just had to trust that if Daring was her happily ever after, things would work themselves out. 

“Apple?” Raven called her name from the inside of the room. “Hey,” Apple turned around, “how was your date?” Raven sighed, joining her at the window. “Pretty well, I guess. It’s not like I have a lot to compare it to.” Apple couldn’t help but smile at the slight grimace Raven made. “Would you do it again?”Apple asked back, looking intensely at Raven’s expression. The latter thought about for a moment before answering. “If he asked me again, I’d say yes.”

“Then it went well enough,” Apple said, looking out the window. On the outskirts of school, she spotted a figure in blue moving towards the stables, and her gaze fixated on it. The graceful form of a certain blue-dressed and platinum-haired princess was barely distinguishable, yet Apple found herself incapable of looking away until she was completely out of sight. “Have you two talked yet?” Raven asked, and Apple sighed and leaned her head in her hands. “No,” she whispered, before she could look back at Raven. “I don’t even know how to start that conversation. I’m just so… tired, right now.” 

"It's normal, you know," Raven patted Apple's back. "You've been through a lot in the past week, and it raised a lot of interrogations. It might help you to give yourself some time to process it all."

“I know,” Apple looks back at her, “It’s just… My whole life has always been perfectly planned for me, so what do you do when all of that planning ends up for nothing?" Raven chuckled, obtaining a slightly raised eyebrow from her roommate. "I wouldn't say all the planning was in vain." 

"What do you mean?" Apple asked, curious but unable to understand her roommate's reasoning. "Well, Apple, all this planning also made you who you are. Had it not been for that planning, I don't know if we could have beaten my mother. Sure, your story was tweaked a little, but that doesn't mean it's all wrong. It doesn't erase all you've done for your school. for your kingdom. and it doesn't erase just how great a queen you'll be when comes your turn." Apples scoffed a little, immediately regretting it. How often had she been told that scoffing wasn’t ladylike. “They won’t let me take the throne if I don’t have a prince by my side,” she explained herself, “It’s never even been a question.”

“Hasn’t it?” Raven asked back, before taking Apple’s hand and dragging her out of their room. “Raven? Where are you dragging me?” Apples asked, now more than a little confused. “The library, Apple. We’re going to do a little research.” 

They quickly crossed through the dormitory, reaching the library barely a few minutes later. Once they got there, Raven headed for the research desk. “Hi,” she quietly called to the librarian. “I need to find the Ever After census for as far back as we can go.” The librarians looked back at Raven, a single eyebrow raising in questioning. Apple couldn’t let her suffer by herself. “Actually,” she stepped in to help her roommate, “I have an assignment to do for Kingdom Management that requires me to look at the census. Raven was just kind enough to offer some help. If you wouldn’t mind…” The librarian sighed, and headed in the backroom. She came back with several big volumes that she dropped on the counter. “Here are the records for the past century. Once you girls are done with those, bring them back and I will get you the century before that.” 

“Thank you,” Apple said sweetly, taking the mountain of information from the desk and bringing it over to a table. “So why did we pull the census for the last century?” She muttered to Raven, who sat down next to her and opened the first volume. “You say that there have never been princesses who ended up with other princesses. Let’s see if you’re right. Looking through the marriages and joined living arrangements, we should be able to assess if this is a first or not.”

Even though she didn’t believe in it much, Apple felt like she had nothing to lose with this, so she opened a census book and went directly to the marriage section. At least, while they were going through these, she didn’t have to speak with Darling. Or feel guilty about not speaking with her. “Lo and behold,” Raven said a little bit too loud, obtaining a stern staring form the librarians. Apple just giggled, moving closer to her roommate to see what she had found. There a was a full page of fairytale characters who had filed for living arrangements with another character like them. Boys who had preferred the company of other boys and girls who had chosen to live with other girls. “So, the question has been asked before Apple. I found a few marriages over here too. We can’t be certain all of these are romantic relationships, but a few certainly are.” Apple looked at the page again, before closing the book. “There was no royalty on that page, Raven.” 

“So?” Raven retorted. “That was one page out of one book. Even if we have no written history of two princesses marrying each other, that doesn’t mean that it has never happened, or that you couldn’t be the first. Apple, you were always so clear about following your destiny, why, now that you've gotten a sign from destiny, do you want to ignore it?”

“But what if it wasn’t a sign for destiny? What if it was just an accident?” Apple argued back, still trying to make sense of all there was around her. “Then don’t you at least owe the two of you to find out? Maybe she isn’t your prince, maybe she is, either way, her kiss woke you up when Daring’s didn’t. Aren’t you the least curious why?”

“You know I’m curious, but I’m also a little… a little scared.” Raven has to move in to hear the last few words. “Afraid of what? Finding out she is your prince? Or finding out she isn’t?” Apple sighed, resting her head against the table. “Both, I guess. Either I find out I’m the first recorded princess to have another princess for a destiny, or I’m thrown in the dark regarding what my destiny is.” 

“And either cases, you get a chance to shape it up. You have a say in your destiny, and your happily ever after.”

Apple took a deep breath reflecting on their words. A chance to shape her destiny. Did that really sounded so bad? What was she so afraid of? Apple suddenly raised her head back up, realizing something she should have realized long ago. _The well._ she was afraid because of the well. “When I was six, I fell into the well behind the castle. It didn’t take long before I was saved, but those two minutes were the longest two minutes of my life, and for the first time, I was afraid because I didn’t know what was going to happen. Ever since, I’ve been so adamant to follow my story because I knew what was going to happen. And now, I’m worried because I don’t know what happens next.”

“Well,” Raven sat down next to her, holding her hands to her, “no matter what comes next, you’re not six, and you’re not alone in the well anymore. You are smart and resourceful, and for the few occasions where that’s not enough, you can count on us to have your back. Because that’s what we do: we have each other’s back.”

Apple hadn’t realized just how much she needed to hear that. Out of all this adventure, this is what she was the most afraid: to lose the ones she cared about. She couldn’t imagine a happily ever after in which she couldn’t have her friends. Yet, these last few days, she had done some royally stupid things, that could definitely have cost her, among other things, her friendships. Whether she meant to or not, Raven had just confirmed that she hadn’t. And it was time for Apple to make amends, starting with the brave knight who had woken her up.

Apple stood up, taking all the books on their table and giving them back to the librarian. When she turned back towards Raven, there was a different glow in her eyes. “I’m ready to talk to Darling,” She announced. Raven crossed her arms, in an ‘it’s about time’ expression, but Apple is sure she can see something resembling pride in her roommates eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am definitely going to write an end to this story(if only for my own mental stability), which is definitely going to be at least two chapters long, maybe more if I have the ideas or if people want me to write more. My question is, should I post the rest? And if I were to extend this story, is there anything you would be interested to read for this ship?
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are welcome and unbelievably appreciated. I do moderate the comments, simply because it's a way for me to make sure I've read all the comments.
> 
> If I continue writing, the rating and/or the title might change. I'll find a way to make it clear if it does.
> 
> Thank you to the brave who read all the way through, and have a nice day!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter, much shorter than the last one, sorry, but it would have been weird to cut later, with what I have planned next for this story. 
> 
> For those who may not know, because I did not the first time it was mentioned in a fanfiction, Braebyrn is the official name of Apple's Dragon from the dragon games and Herowing is Darling's.

The only thing there was in the direction Apple had seen Darling head earlier was the Dragon stables. Which made sense: if Darling had nearly as much on her mind as Apple did, going for a ride would help her clear it. Flying didn’t allow for anything beside a complete focus on what you’re doing right now, forcing a dragon rider to momentarily forget his or her worries. The skies were already troublesome enough as they were. 

And as she thought, Apple noticed that Herowing wasn’t in the stables when she got there. Braebyrn excitedly called to her, so she moved towards her to give her as much of a hug as you can give a full grown dragon. “Hey girl,” she petted her nose, “I don’t suppose you know when Darling and Herowing will be back, uh?” Braebyrn just tilted her head to the side, and Apple couldn’t help but smile. “That’s okay, do you think I could wait for her with you?” Apple opened the stall to step in with him, settling comfortably against her dragon. Feeling his rider’s tension and nervous energy, Braebyrn began a low purring, lulling Apple to calm. She couldn’t help but yawn, once again revelling in just how warm the dragons were for cold-blooded creatures, and how relaxing the purring sound was. “Maybe I could close my eyes, just a moment,” she yawned again, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep, giving to the exhaustion the preceding days had brought her to. 

When she woke up, her head was resting against a strong shoulder and a deliciously sweet perfume was invading her senses. She scooted in closer to the warm body next to her, pressing her cheek against soft locks of hair. But wait, Braebyrn didn’t have soft hair, or a strong shoulder she could rest against the way she was, or this amazing perfume that made her want to do nothing but stay close for as long as she could. 

She opened her eyes in surprise. staring at the girl she was laying against. Darling. Darling was laying against Braebyrn, still in her dragon gear. but motionlessly asleep. When Apple stood up, she noticed Herowing wasn’t back in his stall, and had instead rolled herself to sleep in front of the door, as if she was on guard. Apple smiled, before focusing back on Darling’s sleeping form. 

She looked so peaceful in her sleep. It wasn’t the first time Apple noticed just how beautiful she was, Darling had always been a true beauty, but it was the first time it hit her so hard. Her long white-blond locks were cascading down her shoulders, not one hair out of place, because Darling’s hair was never out of place. There was no such as a bedhead for a princess. Her beautiful face looked so relaxed, a change from the concentration or the “princess smile” most often seen on her when she’s awake. Apple sat back down, next to her, observing her brave knight take a break. Was that how Darling felt, watching her in enchanted sleep? 

Darling stirred, and Apple froze in place. How would she react? She hadn’t planned to stare, but she’d woken up, and it was so relaxing to watch her sleep, to see her in peace. Darling slowly opened her eyes, stopping all of Apple’s reflections dead in her tracks. “Where… where am I?” she asked, confused. “What do you mean”, Apple asked back, and Darling’s head whipped so fast Apple thought she’d hurt herself. “Apple? What are… What are you doing here?” Apple took a deep breath. Why on earth was Darling so confused? “I was waiting for you to come back with Herowing and I fell asleep against Braebyrn. When I woke up, you were sleeping by my side.” Darling seemed troubled, looking at Apple questioningly. “Darling, what’s the last thing you remember?”  
“I came back from A flight with Hero wing. and I was really tired, so I leaned against Herowing and closed my eyes. That’s all I remember.” Her eyes finally enlightened, at the same moment Apple realized what must have happened. “The dragons…” she whispered, and Darling bursted into laughter. The dragons could be little tricksters, and acutely atoned with their owners feelings, Braebyrn and Herowing probably meant to give them a hand. Once the laughter died down, they sat silently side by side. “So why were you waiting for me,” Darling finally broke the silence, and Apple tensed up again. Trying to stall wouldn’t do her much good. “I never said thank you, you know. For waking me up.”  
“Don’t worry about it, Apple,” Darling brushed it off, throwing Apple off. “I’m just glad you’re alright, it’s no big deal.”  
“Well, it kind of is, for me. I mean, Daring’s kiss didn’t work, but yours did. Don’t you want to know why?” Darling stiffened up. “I already know why, Apple. You’re one of my friends. That’s a form of love too.”  
“So you really think that’s just it. That it worked because of friendship?” Darling strongly nodded, as in to put a close to the conversation. She stood up and went to the door of the stables, opening it slightly to let a ray of light come in. “The sun is up, it looks like we spent the night here. Here, I’ll walk you back to school.” Darling offered a hand to Apple, who took it with a smile. The contact makes little sparks fly from her fingers, surprising Apple and making her pull away at first. What on earth happened? “Apple? You coming?” Darling didn’t look any concerned, like she hadn’t felt anything. Apple just shook her head, and took Darling’s hand, ignoring the sparks that flew once a again. It wasn’t unpleasant, really, quite the contrary, but it was surprising. 

The walk back to campus wa done in a stunning silence, both girls staying stuck in their thoughts. Once they were back to the dormitories, Apple went to let go of her hand, but Darling held her back. “Whenever you need help, Apple, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll always be there to help you.” Apple just nodded, a little stunned by this declaration. Darling let go of her hand and headed back towards her own bedroom, leaving Apple even more confused now than before their conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, an amazing friend of mine who does a proofreading before I publish has given me a few great ideas of stakes that would be interesting to develop, but are there any particular situations/reactions/conflicts you'd like me to touch on? If you do, please let me know, I will definitely take it into consideration (I don't want to promise I will add it in, because I won't if I can't find something interesting to say about this, but I'd love suggestions about aspects of this relationship and its repercussions on their universe I may not have considered). One thing I will not write about, though, I'd rather put it out right away, is Daring's identity crisis following Dragon Games, simply because I feel like that was taken care of correctly in Epic Winter. I may mention it in passing, but I won't stay on it. 
> 
> As usual, feel free to leave kudos and comments if you want to. I read and do my best to answer all the comments, so even if you just want to chat, I'll answer you. 
> 
> Stay safe and have a good day!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darling tries to make some sense of all that's happening, but why won't anyone understand that she doesn't want to talk about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good day and happy new year everyone!
> 
> So after literal months, entry into a new program and a full term of online learning, I'm finally satisfied enough with chapter 3 to post it. I'm so sorry for the wait, it's been a bit of an intense year (for me like for everyone, I'm sure). 
> 
> I'm not sure the White Queen is the one teaching Princessology, I don't know if it has been mentioned either in the show or in the books (I haven't read them all yet, they're a little hard to find where I am), but for the sake of this story, we'll say she does. 
> 
> On to the story, I hope you enjoy!

Once she’d dropped Apple in front of her bedroom, Darling made her way to her own bedroom, in order to clean up and change clothes. Her first class of the day was Princessology, after all, and the white queen would not allow any of her students to be anything but flawless, at the risk of losing marks, or even failing the trimester. And as much as Darling found the destiny of a Damsel in Distress unattractive, if she wanted to be allowed back home this summer, obtaining anything short of a perfect grade in Princessology simply wasn’t an option.

She opened the door to her room as quietly as she could, hoping to not wake up her roommate. “You missed curfew,” Rosabella simply stated, preparing herself for school. “I know,” Darling sighed, heading for her dresser and taking out some clothes to change into. “I was so tired when I came back with Herowing that I… fell asleep in the stables.” Darling quickly changed, before moving to the bathroom to touch up on her make-up. It was on days like today that she was thankful for the Charming genetics, genetics that allowed her to get away with a very minimal make-up for class. “And?” Rosabella pried on, knowing her roommate sometimes even better than she did herself. “And I hope you didn’t get into too much trouble with Mama Bear because I wasn’t in my bed?”  
“I didn’t get into any trouble, and you weren’t answering the question.” Darling sighs again, coming back into the room and sitting down on her bed. “And when I woke up, I was laying against Braebyrn and Apple was sitting next to me.” Rosabella took a loud breath, moving from her own bed to sit on Darling’s. “She wanted to talk. About the kiss.”  
“Okay. And how did it go?”  
“It went fine,” Darling huffed, getting up and heading for the door. “Are you coming? We’re going to be late for class.” Rosabella rolled her eyes, but did stand up and joined Darling in the corridor. “Is that really what you want to do?” Darling almost furrowed her brows, before catching herself and keeping her expression neutral. “I don’t understand what you’re asking, Rosabella.” She tried to walk faster, but Rosabella placed a hand on her shoulder in order to slow her down. “Bury all your doubts and confusions down, not caring that it doesn’t do you any good.” Darling stopped walking, not saying anything. “I get it, this is a lot to process. But is pretending nothing happened really what’s best? For the two of you? Because it seems like the least you owe each other are some answers.” Darling sighed, “and we already got some. My kiss woke her up because Apple and I are good friends. I don’t think there’s more to it than that.” She felt her own heart pinch at that, but chose to ignore it. Rosabella moved her hand from her shoulder to her hand, to squeeze it and give her friend some support. “Look, I gotta get to class. It’s fine if that’s really how you feel, but I know you Darling. I’ve seen the longing glances and the sighs you work so hard to hide. And I’m not sure lying to yourself is fair, to either of you. At least think about this.” And with those words, the girls separated, each hurrying to their first class.

Rosabella’s words rang through Darling’s head while she sat down in her usual Princessology spot. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it, used to going to class without breakfast. 'I’m not sure lying to yourself is fair, to either of you'. Why did those words bother her so much? Darling sighed and opened her notebook, raising her hands to rub her temples. Today was going to be another headache-filled day. And she was so not ready for it.

A soft giggle resonated through the quiet room, drawing Darling’s attention to the pretty blonde currently entering the classroom with her friends. Apple was laughing at something Briar said, slightly closing her stunning blue eyes and placing her hand in front of her mouth. As any proper lady would do. At least her mistake didn’t seem to cost Apple her social circles. She couldn’t predict if the other students were going to try and distance themselves from them, and she had never had a particularly big friend’s group, so she hadn’t felt the effects of it just yet, but Apple… Apple was as social a person as they come. And she shouldn’t have to pay because Darling had done something stupid.

Just what had she been thinking? Sure, she wanted her own destiny, she wanted to be the hero of her own story, but… No, no, she couldn’t think about this right now. If she allowed herself to go down that rabbit hole, she would never be able to keep up the façade. And Darling knew she wasn’t allowed to break down right now.

She floated through her Princessology class, not really retaining anything the White Queen was saying. Had she been called on, during the class, she would’ve embarrassed herself, incapable to say what the class had been about. When the bell finally rang, she elegantly hurried out the door, grateful to no end that she next had a free period. She headed back up to her room, and flopped down on her bed.

All the thoughts she refused to have earlier, all the little voices that told her she was wrong for one reason or another came back rushing into her conscious mind. Darling groaned, and grabbed on to a pillow to hug it tight to her chest. Why did she have to go and kiss Apple? More importantly, why did her kiss have to be the one to wake her up? What right did she have to bring Apple into her mess? For as long as she’d been able to tell, she’d always wanted to be a hero. So why was she plagued with all those doubts? Why was it so hard to be what she had always wanted to be?

She hadn’t asked to be born a princess. She hadn’t asked to be born a Charming. Somedays, she wished so hard that she could content herself with the destiny of a Charming princess. Content to wait while doing needlework for the day a brave prince came to defeat whatever evil was stopping her from being free, and claim her as his Queen. It seemed like today was one of those days. But alas, she had to be part of the minority, part of the princesses who wanted so badly to be heroes. The kind the Charming Committee on Proper Education of the Youth looks at with disgust and refuses to acknowledge, for any reasons.

Darling isn’t sure when she had started to cry, but now the tears seemed unstoppable. Once they finally dried up, Darling replaced her pillow back on her bed and stepped into the bathroom. She took out her makeup pallet, and used it to cover up her puffy eyes. It was improper for a princess to present herself with anything besides a perfect glow, and heroes didn’t cry. Whichever camp she chose, puffy eyes were unacceptable.

She went back into the room and took her fencing clothes out of the closet. She had promised Dexter she would help him practice for his Hero Training test, and she wasn’t going to come back on her word. Who knew, maybe it would help her forget the mess her own life was for a moment. She quickly got dressed and made her way down to the training grounds on the right side of the school’s main building. Dexter was waiting there for her, in his own training clothes and two practice swords in hand. “You alright, Darling?” He asked her as soon as he saw her, “Have you been crying?” Darling should’ve known there was no way she could fool her brother. The twins had always been too aware of the other’s emotions for something as rare as Darling crying to go unnoticed. “It’s nothing, Dexter. I… I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” Dexter nodded, understanding now was not the time to push. “Okay. Just know I’ll be there for you when you do want to talk.” Darling sighed, taking the swords his brother was holding to her. “I know, Dex, just… not today, okay?” They both took positions on the training field, saluting and taking their stance. “Anything to do with what happened in the forest? Between you, our brother, and a certain blond princess?” Dexter asked, going on the offensive. Darling pushed him back, taking a swing herself, an easy one to block. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She ducked his next blow, and forced him to block a streak of quick attacks. Maybe he hadn’t understood that well that she wasn’t ready to talk about it. She went a little harder on him, taking away the opportunity to chat while they were fencing. “Woah, there’s no need to get that aggressive, Darling,” he protested, fumbling and falling back from the pressure she put on him. “Your footwork needs work,” she simply said, offering her hand to help him stand up. “Without proper footwork, it’s too easy for an adversary to make you collapse the way I just did.”

Darling spent the next hour or so helping her brother run through his footwork exercises, and luckily for her, it ended being a pretty good distraction from everything else she had to figure out. His footwork didn’t improve much, but at least at the end of their small training session, he wasn’t quite as easy to defeat as he had been earlier. “We’re going to have to stop, I have to get ready for another class. But you’ve progressed a lot, Dexter, I have good faith you’ll pass tomorrow.” She helped him up one last time, and took the swords to put them back in the armory. “I can take care of that, Darling, if you have to get to another class.” Darling giggled, keeping the swords well in hand. “It’s fine, I got it. I’m not in that much of a hurry. Besides, I need all the exercise I can get.” She made a quick way to the armory, opening the door with her shoulder and slipping her way inside. The rack for the training swords was by the entryway, so she didn’t have to go very deep into the armory to put them back in their place. From the closed lights, absence of sound and the fact that they were in the middle of the day. She assumed she was alone in the room, and took the chance to take a little breath. Maybe sleeping laid against a dragon wasn’t the best way to get a restful night, pretty girl next to her or not.

She shook her head, refusing to give in to those thoughts, and turned around suddenly when some metal was dropped somewhere behind her. “My apologies, Miss Darling,” another student, an unrelated Charming boy that was a year older than her brothers and her, she thought, was standing behind a rack of fallen swords, axes and other weapons. He must have made it fall by accident, while he was trying to put his weapon back. “Don’t worry about it, I’m alright.” She moved his way and started giving him a hand in putting the rack back up, being extra careful to not cut herself. “Miss, please don’t, these blades are way too sharp for a damsel.” She brushed him off with a light flutter off her long eyelashes. “Oh, no, it’s fine, I can help you with this,” She picked up another sword to prove her point, and put it back on the rack. She kept working on it, and he kept trying to get her to stop, because ‘it’s not a ladies job’, until Darling felt a sudden pain in her right forearm. “I told you this wasn’t for damsels,” the prince whined, “Now you’ve gone and cut yourself.”  
“What...What?” Darling looked down, everything feeling a little fuzzy, to notice a minor cut on her arm. “But I wasn’t holding a sword…” She tried to take a step forward and stumbled down to her knees, everything coming through like her head was full of cotton. “Don’t worry, my beautiful Darling,” the boy said, taking a knee and holding her chin angled towards him, “you’re going to take a nice nap, and when you’ll wake up, everything will be back in its place.”

She tried to fight the sleepiness off, but even the bravest of heroes couldn’t resist long the effects of a sleeping curse. And the last thing she saw before the darkness took over was the creepy smile of the Charming boy, looking so proud of himself, who had just poisoned her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the plot thickens...
> 
> A few end of chapter notes:
> 
> 1- Since this story happens after Dragon Games, and therefor after Way to Wonderland, I feel like Headmaster Grimm wouldn't let Darling take the 'heroes' classes, but would tolerate Darling sparring with her brother Dexter, and maybe Daring, I haven't decided yet. 
> 
> 2- Should the "unrelated Charming prince" get a name? I'm reall bad with naming and characterizinig characters, it's one of the reasons why I write fanfiction, so he will very likely be more of a plot device than an actual character. That being said, if he comes back in later chapters, do you want him to have a name? 
> 
> 3- There could very well be some typos left, always feel free to mention them to me and I will correct them.
> 
> I genuinely don't know when chapter 4 will be ready, but I will do my best to not make you wait as long this time. 
> 
> I hope that 2021 can be a little less chaotic than 2020 has been, and I wish everyone a good day!


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